The highest level talks since the two nations’ reconciliation following years of acrimonious rivalry that destabilised the region took place on Friday in Jeddah between Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.
Saudi crown prince meets Iran’s foreign minister: Following talks with his Saudi colleague Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Amirabdollahian said relations between the two nations were “on the right track” the day after he arrived in the country.
Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MbS, serves as the country’s de facto ruler. He has actively realigned Saudi foreign policy in response to concerns regarding the nation’s enduring close connections with the United States.
Iran’s Press TV quoted the Iranian delegation as describing the meeting as “very good.” The Saudi state news agency SPA reported that the discussions encompassed international and regional developments.
Years of rivalry between the Sunni royal family of Saudi Arabia and the revolutionary Shia Muslim leaders of Iran dominated Middle Eastern events as they fought for sway in conflicts and political battles in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Bahrain.
However, China helped to broker a reconciliation in March that resulted in the restoration of full diplomatic ties. Saudi Arabia had severed such ties in 2016 after protestors assaulted its embassy in Tehran in response to Riyadh’s death of a prominent Shia cleric.
Ebrahim Raisi, the president of Iran, expressed his desire to visit the kingdom at the “appropriate time” during Prince Faisal’s June visit to Tehran.